U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,945, assigned to the assignee hereof, is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to removable data storage media as used with, for example, computers and other data-processing devices, such as floppy disks. In particular, the present invention relates to a system whereby such removable media can be automatically labeled for visual identification thereof.
Removable data storage media, such as floppy disks, are well known in the computer industry. A single floppy disk may have loaded thereon data which varies with every use of the floppy disk. It is often desirable to reuse floppy disks after the data that had once been placed therein is no longer needed, so that digital data on a particular disk is often overwritten with completely different and unrelated data in a subsequent use of the disk.
A common practical problem in environments where removable media such as floppy disks are in widespread use is that it is inconvenient for users to label and re-label various floppy disks with information relating to the data stored on the floppy disk at any particular time. Labeling a floppy disk in the first instance is often inconvenient to begin with, and subsequent crossing out or erasing of any written label on a floppy disk is merely an opportunity for confusion.
The present invention relates to a design of a floppy disk (or other type of removable data storage media) which enables automatic visual labeling of the media as it is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,102 discloses an electro-optical display for a digital data storage device, such as a floppy disk. The apparatus utilizes a modified floppy disk housing and a modified floppy disk drive to automatically label the floppy disk with file names being copied to or deleted from the disk. Disposed on the floppy disk housing is an electronic display such as an LCD display, as well as a receiving device for receiving digital data, and a logic/memory device coupled to the receiving device and the display. While the disclosure in this patent represents a floppy disk or other media with an electrically-alterable display, the rather sophisticated arrangement of a processor and an LCD display on a floppy disk will represent a serious cost disadvantage to each floppy disk.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,389,945 and 5,708,525, assigned to the assignee hereof, are examples of patents which disclose an xe2x80x9celectric paperxe2x80x9d concept. In the particular embodiments shown in these patents, a substrate has embedded therein a two-dimensional arrangement of xe2x80x9cbichromal balls,xe2x80x9d each ball having essentially a white hemisphere and a black hemisphere, and each ball being rotatable within the substrate. By external electrostatic or magnetic manipulation of the balls within the substrate, individual bichromal balls can be oriented to have their black hemisphere or their white hemisphere oriented in a particular direction. By selectively orienting various balls in the two-dimensional array, the black hemispheres of certain balls can be oriented such that the hemispheres can collectively form alphanumeric characters. Significantly, the electrical, electrostatic or electromagnetic devices which selectably orient the bichromal balls within the substrate are external to the substrate itself.
Another technology similar in concept to xe2x80x9celectric paperxe2x80x9d is being developed by E Ink of Cambridge, Mass. In the E Ink concept, small transparent spheres filled with dark blue fluid and white particles are sandwiched between pieces of clear film. Electrical currents applied to the film control the movements of the particles within the spheres, pushing them up or drawing them down. A description of the E Ink concept is given in the article xe2x80x9cFirm Turns a Page in Designing Prototype Flexible Display,xe2x80x9d San Jose Mercury News, Jul. 20, 1998.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a removable memory media, comprising a member for retaining data, and a casing associated with the member. An electrically alterable display is attached to the casing, the electrically alterable display being alterable through means which are not attached to the casing.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing device, comprising a port for accepting a removable memory media. The memory media includes a member for retaining data, a casing associated with the member, and an electrically alterable display attached to the casing, the electrically alterable display being alterable through means which are not attached to the casing. The data processing device interacts with the member for retaining data while the computer memory media is disposed in the port. Means are provided for altering the electrically alterable display while the computer memory media is disposed in the port.